Ecosystem

Question 1

All the organisms in an ecosystem are independant. What does this mean?

Answer 1

They all depend on each other to survive.

Question 2

Explain why animals rely on plants for energy.

Answer 2

Animals cannot make their own food from this energy. Therefore they rely on plants to capture and store the sun’s energy. This energy is then passed along food chains to other animals.

Question 3

What do the arrows in a food chain or web represtent?

Answer 3

1. Which organisms feeds on each other.

2. The direction of energy flow.

Question 4

Give a definition for the following food web termonologies:

a) producer
b) carnivore
c) omnivore

Answer 4

a) An organism which uses the sun’s energy to ‘produce’ food energy.
b) Only eats animals, never plants.
c) Eats both plants and animals.

Question 5

What happens to poisons as they are passed along the food chain?

Answer 5

Toxic materials accumulate as they are passed along the food chain. The top predator will always be worst effected as it has builded up the longest.